The need to readily identify items stored in a computing environment such as a personal computer (PC) is dramatically increasing as more individuals utilize computers in their daily routines, and as the type of stored information varies between pictures, music, documents, etc. Documents and media are typically stored on computers in a hierarchical fashion and are organized with files of information or media stored within folders. File system browsers enable users to navigate through the file system and locate and open files and folders. For example, Microsoft Corporation's WINDOWS® EXPLORER™ is an operating system utility which enables users to browse the file system.
Many users find it difficult to correctly identify a file based on the information currently available in conventional file system browsers. Of course the contents of a file can be verified by closing the file browser and opening the file using a separate application program, but this method of browsing files is extremely inefficient given the time and resources consumed by each application. For example, browsing five separate files of different file types would grow tiresome as the five separate applications are each initialized.
Microsoft Corporation's WINDOWS® XP operating system includes an image browser for use when browsing the My Pictures folder. The browser displays a thumbnail view of a selected picture, and the user can rotate the image, but that is the extent of the interactivity. The user cannot fully interact with or edit the image. Furthermore, although more sophisticated picture displaying applications may exist on the system, there is no way for the My Pictures folder to extend its thumbnail option to any of those applications, or to permit those applications to supply their own thumbnail views for use in the shell browser. With the limited control/edit/interactivity options from the browser, and the inability for other applications to offer richer thumbnail previewers for the browser, there is a resulting need for an improved approach to providing previews in shell browsers that offers more options and choices to users so that they may more effectively use the browser.